My family no longer has any pets running around the house.

When our son's shy but charming little hamster passed away about a year ago, we decided it would be the last critter to grace the halls of our home.

Our boys are 15 and 12 now, and they have truly overwhelming competitive sports schedules.

And between school, work, a girlfriend, and the many other interests creeping into his life, the teen's time is already stretched thin.

I have no regrets about our time with pets.

I had a beautiful golden lab when I was in my late teens, a pup I brought with me when I moved away for school.

After she passed, my wife and I got two cats for our apartment, and those boys lived long enough to meet our two actual boys, whom they loved very much.

The start of COVID lockdowns also marked the start of our hamster era.

I still think giving each of our kids a small, furry friend to care for when the world was so dark and isolated was one of the best decisions we ever made.

But the one thing I won't miss is saying goodbye.

Time marches on, of course, the pain fades, and it's OK.

But there's a trauma there that I'm not sure ever goes away.

So now imagine you had to say goodbye to a living, healthy, furry family member because you had no other choice?

1 sad new sign of coming crash

Melissa Knicely has seen a lot of heartache during her 19 years working at a North Carolina animal shelter.

And it's not just limited to animals' suffering.

It turns out that, as the U.S. economy ebbs and flows, so too does the activity at her place of work.

As CNN explained after speaking with Knicely recently:

"In Melissa Knicely's nearly 19 years at a North Carolina animal shelter, she's learned to spot an unofficial and heart-wrenching sign that the economy may be taking a turn for the worse: When there's a surge in the number of people looking to give up their pets.

"That happened in the late 2000s, as the pain from the financial crisis spread; at other times when waves of layoffs hit the region; and, more recently, when inflation spiked.

"And in recent months, that activity, which is referred to as 'owner surrenders,' has picked up steam at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control in North Carolina."

Knicely told CNN that "owner surrenders" have seen a shocking 43% increase year-over-year.

It's not just the cost of owning a pet that's pushing people toward that gut-wrenching choice, either.

It's a U.S. economy in which wages no longer keep up with the basic cost of living.

As another shelter worker — this one based in Minnesota — told the news organization, one of the main themes is people no longer being able to afford their homes.

Megan Larson explained:

"It's going to be financial for a few different reasons.

"It just breaks us to see people cry that they have to give up their animal because they have to move somewhere that's more affordable, and that place that's more affordable for them doesn't allow animals.

"This is a very devastating decision that these people are forced to make. People don't want to do this."

The toughest choices

I like to think that, no matter what happened, I'd find a way to make it work … to keep a beloved pet.

But how would I know?

I'm privileged to live in Canada and operate nowhere near the poverty line.

I've never had to decide between pet food and my food.

But I can imagine what a gutting choice that would be.

And as the economy wilts under the nonsensical economic diktats of one Orange Tyrant, more and more people will be pushed into making those kinds of terrible choices.

The simple truth is that, in Trump's America, it's the poor who suffer most.

Joblessness is on the rise as businesses hunker down amid never-ending uncertainty.

Tariffs have already started pushing up the prices of staples, with further hikes expected.

Things are getting so bad that people are even starting to skip breakfast to save a few pennies.

Yes, it's easy to parrot slogans like "The Golden Age of America" so long as you don't think about anyone but yourself.

And certainly not about someone driving away from an animal shelter having made one of the toughest, most soul-crushing decisions of their life.

Do you think rising pet surrender is a credible sign of a potential economic crash?

If not, what's your bull case for the U.S economy?

Let me know in the comments!